Grow Your Own Food - Eat Locally

My Buff Orpington layer flock (a batch of chicks I acquired in June of 2019), along with 4 Heritage Rhode Island Reds, and 3 Barred Rocks make a total of 25 laying hens.  They are watched over by 3 Buff Orpington Roosters.  This flock is about to be joined by 19 Buff Orpington pullets and 1 cockerel from the October 2019 batch of chicks.

I’m currently getting an average of 15 eggs a day.  When the pullets begin laying eggs that will  potentially double over time.

So far I only have one egg customer and am trying to use up eggs as quickly as I can.  I also give eggs away to anyone who comes to visit.  I’m hoping to get more paying customers in order to offset the cost of grain.  I see people looking at the sign as they go by, but people have gotten into the habit of buying everything in one place, in large corporate owned warehouse or grocery stores.

That’s something we need to have a conversation about.  If you’re my age, you remember that a lot of grocery stores were owned by people who lived in the community.  Remember that?  If you don’t it’s because the mom and pop stores of yesteryear are all but extinct.  That actually came about from a corporate business practice of moving into a community and underpricing products to drive smaller businesses out.  Once they have eliminated the local competition, they can now raise prices and offer products of their choice.  Not necessarily products that people in the community want or need, or are good for the community.  People get used to the “choices” that are being “offered” to them and eventually they will buy what they are “told” to buy.  That’s why we no longer have fresh local bakeries, local butcher shops, and local grocery stores in every community.  That’s why local nurseries have mostly disappeared.  Book stores...All the local businesses that used to make up “Main Street” and “Downtown” in towns and cities, are all gone.

Okay, so what?  Where am I going with this?  This is not a nostalgic stroll down memory lane for me.  There is a point to that last paragraph.  The point is, what happens when we have a pandemic (like the one we’re facing right now) that impacts the supply chain of food?  When people panic, they hoard.  They stockpile.  And that creates a problem because suddenly food becomes scarce.

So what to do now?  Plant food.  Right now.  Plant in window boxes, on balconies, on patios, in gardens and vacant lots.  Learn to forage.  Get cities and towns to plant food plants instead of ornamentals all over the place.  Trees that bear fruit.  This is really important.  When I went into town for my usual shopping trip, I wasn’t thinking about stocking up.  But I noticed the shelves were a little barer than usual.  When I started talking to someone stocking shelves at the co-op, he told me how Corona Virus was causing interruptions in the supply chain.  I hadn’t thought about it.  My response was to buy some quick growing cold weather crop seeds.  It’s still cool here, but I could get seeds started and transplant them out.  Things that grow at this time of year will be mature in 45 days.  That’s mid to late April.  I realized that there is no time to waste here.

So I want to encourage everyone who can to grow what they can.  The smaller the space, the more intensive food production you can potentially get out of it.  No space is too small.  And we can all be a bit more creative about what we think of as a garden.

Why aren’t we growing more food locally?

Spring Chick Progress Report

At three weeks this is the difference between a Cornish Cross chick and a Buff Orpington chick.  The Cornish X are bred for fast growth.  They are a broad breasted meat bird.  The Buff Orpington are heritage birds.  They are good egg layers, good moms (they go broody), and are not bad meat birds, (though I have no personal experience with a Buff Orpington on my table).

I took this photo to illustrate the difference in size since both these birds are three weeks old.

Which is why I had to separate them 10 days after their arrival.

54 chicks started out in this 100 gallon stock tank.

 















I lost 4 of them over the first three days, which left 50 birds.  Or so I thought.  (It turns out when I went to separate them out, that I had an extra bird-hooray!)

By the time they were 2 weeks old, the Cornish X were so much bigger than the Buff Orpington chicks that they seemed packed in like sardines

I had just been waiting until they feathered out a bit to move the Cornish X out to the lean-to on the south side of my house where I keep the brooders.  And after two weeks their wings had feathered out enough for me to feel comfortable about moving them out of the house.

That left a lot more space in the tank for the remaining 15 Buff Orpington chicks plus one unidentified bird (it looks like a Cornish X, but is small like the Buff Orps.  And since they hadn’t feathered out much at all, they are still indoors.

And here they are now at three weeks old.

The red heat lamps make it hard to see them in photographs, but you can see they have a lot more room to move about.

And this is the Cornish X in their brooder at two weeks old.

And here they are a three weeks old for comparison.

You can really see the growth in just one week, the box looks much fuller than in the first photo.  And since there are 35 birds in this 4’ x 4’ brooder, I imagine that they will be ready to move again in a week.

In good weather, the ideal scenario would be to move them outside at 4 weeks, but during this time of the year, with the colder temps, that will depend on them getting more fully feathered out.  They are nearly there, so I may get them outside in a week.

At 5 weeks, I expect to be able to move the Buff Orpington chicks into the brooder, but again-that depends on how far along their feathers are.  Still, I do have three heat lamps and it stays quite toasty in the brooder when I use all three.

After 5 weeks, I will be more than ready to have my dining room back.  Those little guys generate so much dust.  But I must admit, they also generate pure joy in the house.

Momentary Magic: Spring Chicks

Spring chicks just arrived this morning in the mail.  I have them under a red bulb heat lamp.

There was a time when my flock self multiplied.  Chicks were hatched on this place naturally and grew up being cared for by a mother hen.

Then one day nature in the form of coyote stole in and changed all that in one sad summer afternoon. The saddest part of all?  Coyote wasn’t even hungry.

What a waste.  All those lifeless bodies.  All the joy drained out of the hen yard.

Now the joy has returned in the form of Spring Chicks.

They don’t have mothers to raise them or to keep them warm or to teach them how to scratch the soil.  Even so, they figure it out.

It is miraculous that 54 tiny chicks can be packed carefully into a cardboard box, and shipped across the country.  The miracle is seeing the soft look on the faces around me when I pick them up at the post office.  The woman at the counter handing them over with blessings and well wishes.  The people in line murmuring that it was worth the wait just to see a box of chicks arrive in tact, their robust chirping filling the post office lobby.  A sign they are healthy and alive.

I drive them home with the heater cranked up into the 80s in my car, and I coo reassuring words to them all the way.  And when I unpack them-another miracle.  They are warm as toast.  The box is warm.  Tucked under their little straw mat, there are two heating packs, still warm after 40 hours of travel.

I find myself warming with gratitude.  It has not always gone this well.  The last batch of chicks arrived chilled through.  I lost about 17% of those chicks.  It took them a long time to even begin to thrive after being so compromised.

But these chicks stayed warm.  They not only survived, but they are vigorous.  Eating and drinking right away.  They haven’t passed out on their little faces with their little wings spread out, like I have seen others do in the past as they try to recover from the stress of being shipped in the mail.

The loud complaining peeping from being packed together in a box for a day and a half, has been replaced with the soft conversational chirps as they chat among themselves.

Right now I can hold 3 in the palm of my hand and all 54 chicks fit comfortably in their 100 gallon stock tank.  They will soon outgrow it, but for now it is the coziest place in the house.  Just the right size for newly hatched chicks.

Welcome home, dear ones.

Thank you for being a part of my life, and allowing me to be a part of yours.

Thank you for the miraculous joy you bring with you.

Winter Rooster

Rocky and Daughter

We woke up to the merest skiff of snow covering the land.  I went out with my camera to record the contrast on the land shown by this rare occurrence and couldn't resist taking this shot of my original rooster, Rocky who is the patriarch of the flock.  He always, always keeps an eye on me.

We got along just fine after I brought him home about a year and a half ago.  He was nearly full grown, and stuck close to the matriarch of the flock, Ruby.  But he never quite trusted me.  Then one day I tripped over him when I was running to untangle the neighbor's cat from a temporary fence I was constructing in the hen yard.  I was instantly viewed as a mortal enemy and combat ensued.  I have since learned to make my trips to the flock with my trusty broom in hand.

Never the less, it is thanks to Rocky that the flock has been kept safe, and that it has increased.  He and Ruby gave us 4 hens and Sparky.  (Sparky is my teddy bear of a rooster and even now that he is bigger than Rocky, I never have to worry about him.  In fact, I suspect he has run interference a time or two for me by distracting Rocky).

I love this photo because it shows Rocky in his true light.  A devoted patriarch and protector of the flock.

Monday Moonday

The Mamas and The Papas sang "Monday, Monday can't trust that day...."

Being self employed, I never have a problem with Monday.  In fact, I'm hard pressed to tell Monday from any other day of the week, since I pretty much work 7 days a week.  (An occupational hazard of the self employed is to learn how to draw those boundary lines between work and personal, which I haven't really figured out yet, but I'm working on it.)

Today was wonderful because I was able to pick up my life again after my marathon sequester last week.  I cleared everything from my calendar in order to make sure that the tax return would get done on time, and hooray! it did.

But not my favorite kind of work.

So today I was able to engage in my favorite kind of work, which is the business of living.  I love taking care of house and home, growing food, raising chickens and seeing clients for energy work.   I love making my own shampoo, deodorant, and toothpaste.  I love it when my skin and hair smell like fresh air and sunshine because I've been outdoors for hours. And I love cooking outdoors, then sitting around the fire afterwards, gazing at the moon and stars to wind down the day.

I'm trying to continue to find time to bind books for Pegana Press too.  Today I think I worked out a schedule where I work on book binding between 8 and 11, and then see clients in my healing practice between Noon and 3 pm.  That way I still have time to fix meals for us all and then I can crash in the afternoon.  I think it's a good Summer schedule, because it allows for working outdoors in the very early morning and the early evening when things are cooler.  I am learning to adapt my schedule to match the ever shifting seasons, especially with the changing weather patterns we are having now...It's the Pacific NW for heaven's sake...We just don't have 87 degree weather in April!

But yes, I guess that is now a possibility.  All potentials exist, and I'm feeling the need to be flexible.  So I have also adopted the practice of Siesta in the hottest time of the day which seems to be late afternoon.  And today I needed it!! And really appreciated it.

It left me feeling energized so I could tackle the super wild part of my yard.  I was just going to build the fence to bypass that area, but I got thinking about it and really, the practical thing to do would just be to clear the blackberry overgrowth and include the old rusty metal storage shed -which I never use- to maybe do something practical with it.

This evening I uncovered a beautiful Hazel (one of my favorite trees) which was being choked out by brambles.  My heart glowed to see it, and I found myself whispering to it, "Do you trust me?", because I wanted it to know I would go carefully and cautiously while I was removing the thorny plants around it.

I also freed up the tall Oregon Grape which was in danger of being covered by long thick blackberry canes.  Now it should be much easier to build the fence in that area, with just a little more work.

I also uncovered some wood and some perfectly good fence posts.  It just goes to show you that treated wood will stand up to the test of time even after laying on the ground, half covered with soil for the past 15 years at least.  I'm going to use the posts to build frames to hang a gate on, so I won't have to contort myself, to avoid getting hung up on primitive wire "gates" to get around my yard.

The fence building project is going slower than I wanted it to.  But I'm trying to keep at it because I'm anxious to plant, and there's just no point planting if I can't protect the garden from my chickens who are talented escape artists.  My goal is to have them moved by the end of this week.  Which will also require some pruning.  I realized that the willow is not only the perfect cover, perfect playground for chickens but also the perfect jumping off point to fly right over the fence.  They might not try it if they are entertained enough with their new environment, but why take the chance?

I'm crossing my fingers that I can plant soon!

This photo shows the full grown Peeps perched on branches 10 to 12 feet in the air.  The fence behind them only reaches 8 feet tall.  In this picture you can see how interested they are in the next tree over, which is outside of their yard, and located just a few feet from my raised beds.  The Peeps began flying when they were still only a week old.  And they're very good at it.

Hooray!

The taxes are done! The taxes are done!  Now I can go back to living my life again.

Looking forward to building the fence for the new hen yard.

Yesterday, Mike commented on how Ruby was making a lot of racket on the porch, which is unlike her, so I poked my head out to see what she wanted.  She wasn't the only one out of the hen yard.  Two of her offspring were out too.  I heard the cozy low crooning of a contented hen very close as I stood on the porch, and turned to see that one of the Peeps had gone back to the place she was hatched and was building a nest from the old straw that was still left in that spot up against the house.  When she left the nest later, I could see she had laid a big girl egg.  Another hooray!

Chickens in The Trees

Naughty Girl Tag Team

I think Ruby (hen) and Esmerelda (cat) have formed an alliance with their end goal being to drive the humans insane.  Anyway, that's what it feels like for today.

From early in the morning, I have been kicking both of them out of the house.  And no, Ruby does not live indoors with us, but Esmerelda does and she's been crazy naughty all day.  In fact they both have been into things that they shouldn't be.

And at one point Mike caught them on the back porch together.  I'm sure they must have been comparing notes.  It's just been one of those days where I've spent more time removing animals from places and situations where they don't belong.

My last post was on Thursday the 7th.  We had a wonderful time that evening having dinner with friends.  It's not often Mike stops working long enough to socialize.  But he had a great time, and so did I.

Friday I went on my quest to Kiperts Korner Feed store and found exactly what I spent all day Thursday looking for.  Fencing materials, and they were 25% less than anywhere else I could have gone.  Everything was made in the US and I supported a local business, rather than a corporate box store.

Hooray!

Yesterday we spent the day getting the posts pounded into the ground and the first level of 4 foot welded wire clipped on.  After we quit for the day, I found out Mike had injured his shoulder the day before and didn't tell me how badly he was hurt.  After a day of helping me build the fence, he spent the night in agony.  Fortunately, he's much better today, but I didn't want to continue with the fence project because I knew he'd want to help.  It's unfortunate, because if I don't get those chickens into their new home soon, I won't be able to plant my garden.  Ruby got into the garden area so many times today that I lost count.

General mayhem rules around here.

Oh Boy!

Look what I found in the straw this morning!  Three eggs.  One is obviously from Ruby, and the others are from two of the peeps.

I used to sort and size eggs when I worked on an organic farm in 2012, and for scale, I can say Ruby lays Large to Extra Large eggs.  These two eggs would be considered Small, which you don't see in the grocery store as a rule.  I think the smallest eggs I've seen in the store were Medium, and in the world of "super size", I'm not even sure you can still get those.

I wanted to see if these small eggs were fully formed and I was so happy to see that they were.

And they were delicious.

#FreshestEggInTheWorld

Thanks Peeps!  I appreciate that you're laying eggs for us.  :)

    

First Egg??

Yesterday I cleaned out the hen house because I had a fresh bale of straw on hand and 9 chickens make quite a bit more of a mess than 4.

This is the result of my labors.  A tidy little hen house.  And the smell of fresh clean straw!

While I was in there I found 3 eggs, which is two more than usual.  (Ruby is the only layer currently.  Good ol' Ruby!)  And I've been waiting for the peeps to start their careers as egg layers.  It looks like that is beginning to happen now.  They'll be 20 weeks on Sunday, which from what I read is about average.

It's difficult to tell the scale of the eggs in this picture, but the two on the left were found about two weeks ago and are less than an inch and a half long.  I was hoping they were the beginning of one of the peeps egg laying cycle, but as it turns out, I believe it was the end of Tricksy's.  

Tricksy has a cycle.  She laid eggs steadily for four months when she first started, and then she took a long vacation (March through August to be exact), and since that time, she lays eggs for about two to three weeks in the fall and two to three weeks in the early spring.

Why do I keep her?  Because she takes care of Rocky.  When Rocky's wing was hurt, she was his guard during the day, and snuggled up to his injured wing to keep it warm at night and Rocky is now all better, and back to his ol' self.  

Tricksy and Rocky are like a comfortable couple who have been together for years.  I wouldn't break that up for anything.

So getting back to the photo, the egg on the right is the one I collected on Friday, and is still quite small.  I believe that egg to be a real first effort by one of the peeps.  This photo will give you a better idea of scale...

Look what happens when I add Ruby's egg to the photo.  And a tape measure for scale.  Then you get an idea of how small these eggs really are.

But wait--there's more!

Yesterday was April Fool's Day.  And it looks like one of my peeps has a sense of humor, because I did find a third egg in the hen house.  And here it is...

I kid you not.  

I cracked it open and half expected some alien life form to emerge, but no...nothing more than egg white, just as with any under sized egg.

And so the truth is that I still have to continue exercising patience while I wait to find out if my peeps will be egg layers.  Will I get more of these malformed eggs, or is this just an early manifestation that will eventually lead to perfectly formed eggs of normal size?

So tonight when I went out to the hen house, there wasn't an egg to be found.  All of the nesting boxes were empty.  Patience...patience...

But I noticed that for the first time, all four of the pullets looked different, so their plumage is changing and they are beginning to look like individuals.  I commented to them and said, "now you will have to tell me your names."  Two of them looked at me like they were trying to oblige, but the sun was setting and I was suddenly very aware of how cold I was getting.  So naming day will have to wait.

I couldn't resist taking this picture though.  They all look so cozy and happy.  Which makes me happy.

Amazing that a little 6' x 6' shed will hold 7 full sized hens and 2 roosters comfortably.

Spring & Outdoor Living

Esmerelda is helping.

It's such a gorgeous day that I'll be darned if I'm going to be stuck indoors even to do my dishes.

So I set up an outdoor dish washing station using this perfect old table my mom found.  Just the right height and size for this job.  It will definitely do until I get a more permanent set up.

And I can keep an eye on the chickens who yearn for adventure and are always trying to get out of their own very large yard.

What??  How did she get up there?

The reason I ran for the camera was because I heard a commotion (Sparky was beside himself and making the dickens of a row!) because there was a chicken on the roof of the hen house.  By the time I got outside with my camera, she was on the clothes line.  Sparky didn't recover until she flew back into the yard.

And look!  I think she laid an egg!!  I saw her sitting next to the nesting box about 20 minutes earlier, and now I see there is an egg there, in it's own little nest in the straw.  She's also busy cleaning up the hen house.  Hmmmm.  I wonder about that.

You can see the little egg in the straw at the bottom of the ladder next to the nesting box.

I think it's time to find out this little girl's name, since she's laying eggs now.  I'm so excited about this.

One more picture and then back to work.

Good job Sparky!  Way to stay on top of things!

Spring Mysteries

Rocky has somehow injured his wing.  

He came flying out of the hen house on Saturday morning like he always does, and landed wrong.  He lay on the ground and I came running over in alarm to see what was wrong.  When he got up his wing was sticking out a bit, and the feathers were disarranged.

I felt my stomach lurch a little and said a quick prayer.  Then began watching him to observe his reactions.  I did some energy work with him, and decided to leave him alone.  I know from experience that it's hard to give your animal space when they are ill or injured, but it really is in their best interest.  I didn't want my over concern intruding on his space.  What do humans know anyway, about the ways of nature.

Later that day I did some more energy work.  And his wing seemed to shift position on his body and look more relaxed.  Also he began preening himself, and his feathers came back into alignment.

I had a full day of work including clients to see for BodyTalk, so I allowed my attention to disengage from him once more.

By evening thanks to the beautiful weather we were having, the temperature dropped and I noticed when I closed the door on the hen house that the hens were snuggled up to him, keeping him warm and he had his head tucked under his good wing--something I've never seen him do.

He's been getting better daily, but there is still a problem with the wing and he has a rough time getting out of the hen house in the morning.  I'm determined to make some modifications in the interior today so he can get up in the mornings without injuring himself further.

With the exception of his wing not getting full extension, he seems nearly normal.  He crows and flaps, chases after hens and eats heartily.  It's a mystery to me how he injured his wing.  Did he do it coming out of the house on Saturday, or was it injured the day before, causing him to crash land on his way out the next morning?  Either way, the sooner I get them moved to their new "pasture" in my little half acre yard, the better I'll feel about the whole thing.  They'll have more cover and more to do.  The space is probably a little smaller, but not by much, and it will be new and interesting.

Animals get bored too and chickens are industrious.  If Ruby is bored, she will find a way to escape and get into a part of the yard, I don't want her in.  As soon as the garden gets planted by mid April, I want to make sure she can't get into it.  And that goes for the cats too, until it's well established.

Spring Weather

The weather has continued to be very fine, with bright sunshine and warmer temps during the day, though bone chilling at night.  Maybe it's just the contrast, because it doesn't seem to be freezing at my place in the night, but I'm reacting more to the cold in the mornings and evenings.  That cold mist that moves in overnight on sunny days.  Brrrrrrr.

But...Stuck Indoors Mostly

Unfortunately, I am mostly stuck indoors right now, though I'd rather be outdoors.  So I realized that I was being a dope!  Yes, I have to work on the income taxes right now, and it takes me a month usually, (because I'm too busy to organize my book keeping while it's happening during the year), but I could perhaps take everything outdoors to work on it??  That is, if I can see my computer screen.  

I must say though, that it has been easier this year, so I must have made some improvements in organization somewhere.

Organization is my biggest challenge at this stage of my life.  I prefer spontaneity to structure, but I am learning a new skill in taking on all these new tasks which require a schedule in order to meet all of my goals.  

My life is an interesting mix of mayhem and magic, which keeps things interesting. 

Having said that...I think I'll go wash my dishes outside now...who knows what might be going on out there.

Addendum

What did I tell you?  Even as I was getting ready to hit the publish button on this post, Ruby came knocking at the back door.  She just wanted to be social.

Spring Fever

Cleaning frenzies.  Bouts of Gardening.  And, oh yeah...

This.

The egg on the left is an ordinary chicken egg.  The one on the right is the only egg I found in the hen house yesterday.

So that either means one of the Peeps laid her first egg, or that Tricksy is winding down.  (It was in the box she uses.)

And so I still don't know.

But I do know this.  It suddenly occurred to me that my Peeps might not be egg layers because of their parentage.  Rocky is a barred rock, but Ruby is a sex link (hybrid) and I just don't know.

Researching online yielded no information on the subject.  I searched 'Can hybrid chicken offspring lay eggs?'  There's a lot of info about sex link, but apparently nobody bothers about their offspring because they don't breed true.  I found one article that at least mentioned that none of her sex link chickens ever went broody.

In fact, the people at the egg farm/chicken farm I got my hens from (and my rooster), were pleasantly surprised that we got 5 chicks from Ruby.  And responded to the news with a "whoo hoo!" and then said they weren't altogether sure that the eggs would even result in chicks.

I guess, now I just wait to see if my flock is fertile.  I'm trying to keep a sense of expectant excitement about this, rather than worrying about it.  The fact is, they've given me an amazing experience just by hatching out.  I got to watch Ruby lay a clutch of eggs, hatch them, and raise the chicks.  The Peepers gave me such tremendous joy, and turned my life into a circus for awhile.  It's been a real kick!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the four pullets will be egg layers.  I just can't wait to find out!

The Garden

I've been going through the Growing Guide I got for The Kitchen Garden Project.  My garden will be built on April 7th courtesy of GRuB (Garden Raised Bounty).  Yesterday, I spent some time between downpours cleaning my backyard up a bit in anticipation of this wonderful gift I'm about to receive.

Today I took my little Growing Guide and mapped out the beds.  It's kind of slow going.  I want to grow everything we use.  I know that these 3 beds are a really big deal--96 square feet in all, but I also know that I could easily plant a whole patch of potatoes and strawberries too, beside what I'll be growing in these three beds.

It's hard to be patient.

Springy

It's been a dark sunny day today in the maritime northwest.  Spring has displayed her ability to paint a rainbow against a dark sky.  Sun-drenched trees dazzle, encrusted with glittering raindrops reflecting their prism colors as they cling to bare twigs.

Today was a day spent noticing things.  I will never take that aspect of my character for granted again.  After months spent being too busy to be present with my environment on a daily basis...I am seeing the magic again.  I have missed it.

Where did this face come from?  As soon as I ask the question, the answer comes to me.  A sprite uses the water droplets for a looking glass.  And what made me magnify this photo to even look for it?  The beaming visage invites me to open my awareness.  I've been missing too much.

Stories have been trying to get my attention today.

It's been over a year since I've written.  Life should never become too filled up doing things you do just to get by.

Since I had the camera in my hand I meandered through the yard, taking random photos.

The first thing that caught my attention was the forsythia in full bloom.  My mom had just asked me about it the other day during a phone conversation.  I could only remember seeing one sprig trying bravely to bloom.  I just assumed last summer's drought had taken it's toll on it, as it had so many other plants.  But here it is blooming magnificently.

Magic!

Tulip bulbs and Hyacinth will not survive here.  The furry ones that live under ground love those things.  I might as well be passing out candy to children.  But the daffodils...

They just keep coming.

 In fact, they're starting to spread out.

And speaking of spreading out...

Here's a flower that spreads where ever I plant it.  A welcome invasion.

I was noticing how much my front yard looks like a forest floor.  I'm sure my neighbors are horrified, but I'm very proud of it.  This is my lawn.

However, I have planted some "mistakes".  Apologies to the Hellebore plants for calling them a mistake, but they spread like a noxious weed, and I need to hone my gardening chops  if I'm going to keep them in check.  They have taken over, where there used to be alpine strawberry.  I really miss those little guys.

And another plant I rescued, struggling for life at the side of the road, was the money plant, or silver dollar as we called it when I was growing up.  I put it in my yard...it seemed like a good idea at the time.  If only my US currency would multiply as fast as the silver dollar plant.  One plant has become hundreds, and not very pretty at that.  

I have no one to blame but myself for that.

I'm afraid they choked out the native yellow wood violet that I planted there from my parent's woods before they moved.  I looked, but couldn't find any sign of that beautiful little plant.  Maybe my friend Rebbeckah has them in her woods...viola glabella.

Next, I visited the Oregon Grape.  It grows throughout my place, and I love it.  

And this showed up all over too--Indian Plum--in bloom at the moment.

Here's one I planted.  Pussy Willow given to me by my sister.  A start from my gramma's yard.  It's gotten so big, I can't even reach those little fuzzy guys.

See that?  I nearly missed seeing them.  They love this part of my yard.  The front is East facing, and dominated by a large old oak.  It's very foresty here.  The back is mostly like a field.  But the trees are moving in there too.  Cherry and little fir trees are popping up.  The trees that were already there when I moved here 15 years ago--the birch, and fruit trees--are old and kind of sickly, but as they are winding down, the little ones come in to replace them.  Lilac is being replaced by Hazel and the pink ornamental Cherry trees that were planted 20 years ago or more, are being replaced by the Bing Cherry trees that have grown wild in this neighborhood for decades.  

And it's all Nature.  I gave up trying to plant trees around here.  Only the trees that belong here can survive.  I have a row of dying arbor vitae, which were green and healthy before last summer's drought.

Having wandered around the front yard, I decided to visit the chickens.  I see them everyday, but I wanted to take pictures.

Here's Rocky.

He takes care of the flock.  Every night when I close the door to the hen house, I thank him for the Peeps and for watching the flock.  I count heads -5 peeps, 3 hens, and Rocky- and I am grateful that we got through another day without any losses, and that there are eggs in the box.

Yes, I really am that close to him.  But I'm not crazy enough to stand eyeball to eyeball with him without a fence between us.  In order to get a full picture of him, I had to stand back because whenever I get near enough to the fence to avoid having the wire in the photo, he has to be right there checking me out.  

See, even in this picture he's got his eye on me.

But what have we here?  

One of the Peeps is a Cockerel!  This is Sparky.  So far this is working out, but I don't know for how long.  My place is too small to support 2 flocks.  I love this little guy.  And he's not so little.  He's 16 weeks old today, and nearly the same size as his mom Ruby.  Of course, they all look small next to Rocky, who is twice as big as my full grown hens.  

Oh well, maybe I can manage two flocks if I have to.

But let's face it, I'd rather not.  Maybe by some miracle, Rocky will tolerate him somewhat.  Just sayin'.  Just prayin'...

Two full grown hens and two 16 week old Peeps.  Sparky and Ruby face to face.

Okay, just two more chicken pics.

Tricksy with Daffodils.  Yes, I know daffodils are poisonous.  Apparently chickens know that too, because I've never seen them eat one. 

All five Peeps are rarely together.  I'm constantly asking, "Where's number 5?" And then I see her with the hens or with Rocky.  There's always one isn't there?  The kid that just wants to hang out with the adults instead of with the other kids.  I put this picture in because I wanted to show how Sparky stands out from the others even though their coloring is almost identical.  He's had his red comb since he was about 5 weeks old.  They grow so fast.

This is Sparky back in December, leading the flock in the great escape.  They figured out how to jump up on this pallet and then how to fly over the fence--usually landing on me as I came out the back door.  You can see his red comb and even at 5 weeks, he stands out.

It'a been a really nice day today.  I didn't get ANY work done.  I need to have more days like that.  (feeding the animals doesn't really count as work, it's like feeding a myself or a family member)

The Peepers Are Growing Up

I went out to feed the Peepers this afternoon and they clucked at me!

Yessir, the Peepers are growing up.  They've stopped talking baby talk and are using full sentences now.  And at 13 weeks they are almost as big as their mom Ruby.

It's going to be hard to stop calling them The Peepers.  That means they will have to tell me their names, finally.  And since 4 out of 5 of them look too much alike to tell them apart at this stage, it won't be easy to know who's who!  Only Sparky stands out.

Sunshine and More Sunshine

It's a beautiful day in the South Puget Sound neck of the woods today.  Zöe and Esmerelda are both outside enjoying the sun, and I'm glad to have them with their paws in contact with the earth after such a long time indoors.  Zöe really hasn't been outdoors much since she was mysteriously attacked and not at all since the Peepers hatched out.

Esmerelda has spent the winter inside as well.  She's been suffering from a sensitivity which has had her chewing all of her fur off.  But now it is growing back and it's a relief to let her outdoors.

Buddy simply won't go there right now.  If he can see chickens through the fence, he wants nothing to do with the yard.

I'm planning on moving the flock soon, so the cats can have their whole yard back again.  I have plenty of space to make this happen, I just need more fencing.  And I need to make that happen.

Right now I've just finished prepping some more books to be bound.  I'll be working on the case bindings this after noon.  Hopefully they'll be ready to bind in tomorrow.  And then I can let them sit for a couple of weeks.

I'd love to get time to do some writing or even to just finish my zines.  I'm going to focus on making that happen too.  Also I'm eager to finish my painting.  The next step will be to add some more detail.  I'm hoping to get it finished off this month.  I have way too many things going on at the same time, and if I can get them off the to do list, I'll be much happier.

Esmerelda had a session with BodyTalk-er Sid Snider last week.  I wasn't finding time to do a session myself, and I didn't want to wait any longer.  Besides, sometimes it's better to have someone else work on family members.  It was such a relief, and Esmerelda is getting better and better.  She is back to being her ol' naughty self again.

All of my cat friends are different.  Buddy is very much like a dog in a cat suit.  Zöe is like an ancient spiritual master, and Esmerelda is fun, Fun, FUN.  She is never having more fun than when she is getting into something she knows I don't want her to be into.  If I open up a drawer or a closet and try to slip something in without any interference, she has the ability to wake from a sound sleep at the other end of the house, and be inside before I can close said drawer, closet or cupboard.  But if I invite her into one of those spaces, she wants no part of it.  What's the fun in being somewhere you're supposed to be.  This also applies to the kitchen.

If there is any food left out, she'll find it.  She will attack anything that has come into contact with food.  I've seen the remnants of her handy work--plates licked so clean they look like they've been washed, baked potatoes with only the paper thin layer of skin left.  I've seen her yank the carcass of a chicken breast out of a stock pot when it was just off the boil, and send it sailing through the air to land on the floor below.  Turn your back for a second and she seizes her opportunity.

She is pure alley cat dressed in haute coture.  Then when she lost her beautiful coat, I felt so bad for her, because I knew she had to be pretty miserable to chew most of her long fur down to the skin.

After her session, she started to get better, really fast.  I could feel her skin re-hydrating under my fingertips during the session, and her fur began to grow back right away as her skin began healing.  She was feeling so good, she of course had to start getting into things.  So a couple of days later, I found a half stick of butter on the floor, half eaten.  Of course, I knew who the culprit was.  And so I had an uneasy couple of days while that went through her system and it wasn't pretty.

But now she's back to normal.  And I kicked her out doors.  She's curled up right now on my wool cloak, in a chair on the back porch in the sunshine.

My kitchen has to remain spotless.  It's the only way to notice, if any food has been accidentally left out.  Or any plates with any sauce or food bits which might play havoc with her digestion.  I have a lock down can in my kitchen for compost, and am constantly policing the vicinity for anything that she might get into.

Literally, the other day, I was preparing some vanilla butter cream icing, and turned around to get a utensil, and turned back to find her head in the bowl.  I swear sometimes I think she'll give me a stroke.  It would be funny, if sugar wasn't toxic to cats.  But I tell you, she seems to get the biggest kick in the world out of trying to outwit me, and beat me to the draw.

So now for the flock...The Peepers are getting huge, They are about 12 weeks old, and everything has changed for the flock now.  Rocky has gotten more mellow.  He seems really proud and happy to have more chickens to protect.  Fannie who has been my non layer, has taken a real interest in them and acts like they're her offspring, which has taken some pressure off of Ruby, and allowed her a smoother transition back into the flock.  I can't wait until the Peepers are old enough to lay eggs.  It looks like we only have one cockerel in the batch, and so far that's working out with Rocky.  The cockerel is the only one of the Peepers that has a name so far.  Mike named him Sparky.

And now, some lunch and back to work.


Oh and by the way...
This is what butter looks like when it's been rolled around on the floor and chewed by a cat...Oh well, into the compost.

I'm just surprised she didn't eat it all.  I guess since there was no one to disapprove, she lost interest.

Happy Birthday to Mike

Proof that I made Mike a Birthday cake.  A Butterscotch Sundae cake from an old Betty Crocker cookbook.  It's taller than it looks.  This picture was taken before I drizzled butterscotch all over the top.  Perhaps the best frosting I've ever made.  (Maybe not...maybe it's just been so long since I've baked that it seems like the best).  But how can you go wrong with butter, powdered sugar, cocoa and cream.

Yes today was Mike's Birthday, and I went on a quest to find him a birthday present.  I went to seven places to find one book.  I could have ordered it on Amazon, but I only thought of it yesterday.  You know, I really love the ease of shopping on line, but I hate what it's done to the local economy.

While I was on my search this morning I went to Barnes & Nobel (no luck there--again, why should they stock a book that was written over a decade ago, when they can sell it on line), then I tried Walden's bookstore, only to find they were no more (I hadn't heard...) Then I tried Lassley's paper back exchange on the west side.  The sign was still up, but the building was empty with a for lease sign on the door.  

So much for the west side.

I headed down town.  No luck there either.  Not at Browser's and not at Orca books.  

Who Done It books is now only a memory.  When did it go?  Poof! Just like that.

I was beginning to regret having such a brilliant idea too late to order on line.  

I had wanted to get Mike a book that was number 6 in a series of 20 books.  We had the complete series before he decided to give that book to his dad a few years back.  Then last summer, he started reading that series again, only to find we were missing a book.  What a disappointment...and so he stopped.

I thought, "What a great gift!  By buying this one book, I'm really giving him an entire series back."  I just didn't know how hard it would be to find that one book or how hard it would be to even find a bookstore in this town.  They seem to be dwindling.

But I pressed on, and finally at the last place I had left to try, Lassley's paperback exchange in Lacey, was still in business, and there it was.  One shining copy.

Okay, not a shining copy.  It's a paperback exchange, so we're talking about books that have been read over and over.  But somehow, the quest made giving Mike that book all the sweeter, because it wasn't easy.  I wasn't sure I would find it and it seemed to make the ragged paper back more of a prize.

So I brought it home and wrapped it in a remnant piece of soft green plaid flannel fabric tied with twine (because I thought it was pretty) and handed it to him with a home made card.  Then we had coffee and laughed together while he opened his other cards and gifts from family.  And he was really excited about the book.  He started reading it later in the afternoon, and he's already a quarter the way through it...and remember it's not just one book...now it is 15 books, because he can finish the series.

Then I took him to lunch at Vic's pizza.  And when we came home, while he read his book with a cat on his lap, I made him a birthday cake.  He though he was in heaven.

I came of age in an era of materialism unprecedented in our culture.  And even though we used to make more money than we're making now, I always felt poor.  Somehow that has changed for me.

The more I step outside of what is normal and safe, the richer I feel.  Today, going on a quest for a Birthday present felt magical.  Would I find what I sought?  Would I win the day?

And Mike feels blessed because I baked.  Something I used to do often, but in these days when every moment is filled with earning a living or keeping up with household work,  baking is the last thing I have time for.  So now a cake becomes a magical and rare treat.  And that is how it should be.

What I'm really trying to say, in a long and rambling way is that all those things we once took for granted had lost their magic.  They had lost their zest.  But now  that we live a completely different lifestyle, where we work only for ourselves, we have come to appreciate the crafting of a moment into something more beautiful, and more magical.  A moment to be cherished and savored.  

Update on The Peepers

The Peepers have now become part of the flock.  The internet is a strange and wondrous source of all sorts of information, which is subject to the perception of whoever is sharing that information.  I had read that you should wait to introduce chicks into the flock until they were 16 weeks old.  My friend who runs a chicken farm disagreed.  Her opinion is --the sooner, the better.

The last two days, I had observed Ruby pecking at the chicks and apparently wanting to get back to the flock.  I could see she was torn.  She wanted to be with the others, but she wanted to take the chicks with her.  Having read "expert" advice on the internet, I was hesitant to introduce the Peepers to the flock.  But by just observing the behavior of the chickens, it felt like it was time.  So I asked my friend with the chicken farm.  She seemed to think it was long overdue.

Yesterday I put them in with the flock and cut a little exit in the fence so they could escape back into their yard if they needed to.  They were mostly just ignored, which was kind of a relief.  But they also didn't want to stay with the flock.  They wanted to be "home".  Their home.  So today, I put them in with the flock and blocked the fence.  They were distressed at first, but adapted.

Tonight when I put them all into the hen house they cried and cried.  Not the cozy peeps that I'm used to hearing at night, when they are still settling down after their busy day, but stressed out chick cries.

I went back inside my house and thought they would settle down, but when I went out 10 minutes later, I could still hear stressed chick noises coming from inside.  So I did a little energy work from just outside, and within less than a minute, I heard the little peeps trail off and it got very quiet.

I'm so ready for this to work.  I had a talk with Rocky this afternoon, and told him the Peepers were his responsibility now.  They are part of his flock and he has to keep them safe from hawks.  I told the Peepers they need to stay close to the flock and not wander aimlessly in the open.  

They had figured out their own yard, especially after several close calls with the hawks.  Their reactions were impeccable (no pun intended) on their home turf.  But watching them today made me apprehensive.  There is some open ground in that part of the yard, and they were mostly wandering around like lost children out in the open, while the full grown hens and Rocky were under cover a distance away.

Things were unsettled today, I'm sure they'll get the hang of it.  I just don't want to lose any.  I love my Peepers...no doubt about it.  But from a practical point of view, I also need all the egg layers I can get.

Mike asked me the other day, how many chickens I was planning on raising.  Here's my feeling.  I only have so much land, and it's not a lot, and I don't want to go into chicken farming.  But I want egg layers, and I want chickens working the land, which they do so brilliantly.

I started out with 4 hens in the beginning.  When my best egg layer was killed by a hawk, I was not only heart broken, but it upset everything with the remaining flock.  Ruby has been the only consistent layer since then.  I brought in Rocky to protect the flock...it was just a bonus that I got chicks out of it.

With only one hen laying eggs, I welcomed the chance to increase the flock.  And now that they're here, another one of the hens is finally laying eggs.  And I'm letting her keep them in the hopes that she'll get broody.  There are 9 eggs right now, so I'm hopeful.  And if she doesn't get broody, maybe one of the others will.  Ruby hasn't started laying eggs yet, so maybe she'll do it.  But the point is, the more chicks I have, the better my chance of getting egg layers and I'd like to have 6 productive hens.  I potentially have that right now.  But that's only if Ruby starts laying again and the other hen keeps laying, and four of the Peepers grow up to be egg layers...and only if no one else gets killed by predators.  So as I explained to Mike, if I can get another clutch of eggs hatched (the natural way--I don't do incubators), than I will be very happy.

My friend with the chicken farm was wondering when I was going to butcher the non producers.  I get the feeling she thinks that I'm being weak and maybe a bit sentimental.  But here's what motivates me, and it might not make sense to someone who doesn't work with energies like I do regularly, but I'll try to explain anyway.

In a very small flock, such as mine is, it takes very little to upset the balance.  One hen getting killed by a hawk didn't reduce my egg production by 1/4.  It impacted egg production by 75%.  My four hens were laying 2 dozen eggs a week.  Then I lost Penny, and two of the remaining hens stopped laying eggs, so now I was getting 6 eggs a week.  And let me just add, that my hens were all young and had only been laying for 3 or 4 months when this happened.  In the language of energy matrices, the matrix had been disrupted.

Add to the mix an aggressive rooster, and it has taken a year to recover from that one death in the flock.  It's literally taken that long for things to start to run smoothly again.  If I had taken out my two non producers, then the flock would take even longer to recover.  And now one of those two is actually laying eggs again - finally - and I'm not 100% certain which one is the layer.  So I guess I'm not in any hurry to start culling.

I love my flock.  Not because I think of them as pets.  I love them because they are members of my family now.  I love them because they teach me, and they give me food, or have given me food in the past, or will give me food in the future.  And in return, I give them food.  They work my land.  I give them shelter.  We are learning to communicate with each other, and that is really something.  This is who I am.  I'm not a farmer.  I love farmers, some of my friends are farmers and some of my family are but I'm not one and I'm not trying to be one.

I'm a kooky person who does a lot of different things to get by.  That's all.